What to Expect from a 60-watt Solar Panel | Power output, appliances, and batteries

If you’ve got a 12V, 60-watt solar panel, you may be wondering what you can use it for. This post outlines what you can use it for and should you decide to build an off-grid solar system- what size of charge controller and batteries you can use.

What Can a 60-watt Solar Panel Run?

A 60-watt solar panel can supply an estimated 240 wh of power during the day depending on the average number of sunshine hours your location receives.

You can use this energy to:

  • keep a standalone battery charged. Note, you’ll need a charge controller for this.
  • power a 12V fan. Make sure it can handle the maximum voltage from the panel, usually about 17.5V, and
  • portable solar generators or portable power stations.

With the power from the portable power station or standalone battery, you can charge phones, tablets, laptops, and LED lights.

All in all, limit it to low-power appliances – definitely no heating appliances!

Note: This list is not exhaustive!

Can it Power a Fridge?

Not enough power to run a fridge consistently. A low-power fridge with a power draw of 40-80 watts has an estimated daily energy consumption of 440-880 wh.

This is considerably less than the 240 wh you can expect from a 60-watt panel!

Charge Controller and Battery for a 60-watt solar panel

You can use a 10 amp charge controller with a 60-watt solar panel. This is more than sufficient for up to 2 x 60-watt panels connected in parallel.

*It is assumed each 60-watt panel supplies about 3.7 amps at maximum power.

Batteries for the Solar panel

As a guide, use the solar panel to charge a 40Ah AGM or 20Ah LiFeP04 battery as it can supply enough power to keep them topped up each day provided they’re not discharged beyond the recommended depth of discharge – 50% for AGM and about 80% for LiFeP04.

Note, these are just two of the possible battery combinations you can use with a 60-watt solar panel.

How Long to Charge the Battery

As a rough guide, expect the solar panel to fully charge the batteries in about 6 – 8 hours if discharged up to their recommended depth of discharge.

How long it actually takes depends on:

  • how much sun is available and,
  • to what extent the batteries have been discharged. For example, Should the AGM battery be discharged to more than 50%, then it will take longer to charge it fully.

Closing Thoughts

A 60-watt solar panel is usually used to charge portable solar generators as well as other low-power appliances.

You can use a 10 amp charge controller together with a 40Ah AGM or 20Ah LiFeP04 battery. Note: This is only intended as a guide.

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